ESU to eliminate nearly 70 professional tutors

Nearly 70 professional tutors will be eliminated by the 2014-15 fall semester, as East Stroudsburg University officials look for more ways to save money.

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By CHRISTINA TATU

poconorecord.com

By CHRISTINA TATU

Posted Mar. 23, 2014 at 12:01 AM

By CHRISTINA TATU
Posted Mar. 23, 2014 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

Nearly 70 professional tutors will be eliminated by the 2014-15 fall semester, as East Stroudsburg University officials look for more ways to save money.

Despite the elimination of the professional tutoring program, ESU students will still have extracurricular help available to them, university officials said.

Instead of professional tutors, the university is looking to grow its base of student tutors.

A professional tutor is someone with either a bachelor's or master's degree who specializes in a particular field.

Professional tutors often have real-world career experience, explained Tasso Papadopoulos, a professional tutor who represents the group at the ESU Student Senate.

To become a student tutor, a student must have at least a 3.0 grade point average, have a B or higher in the subject area in which they plan to tutor and must be recommended by an ESU professor in that class, said university spokeswoman Brenda Friday.

Besides the differences in their level of experience, there's also a significant difference in the level of pay offered to professional and student tutors.

Professional tutors earn between $17 and $22 per hour and may work up to 24 hours per week, Friday said. Starting wages for student tutors is $7.25 per hour with the ability to work up to 10 hours per week.

At this time, the university is unable to provide an exact figure as to how much it will save, Friday said in a prepared statement.

"We do know that professional tutors are earning nearly three times the salary of a student tutor ... cost savings is only one of several reasons we are transitioning," she said.

"Student tutoring is an extensively proven practice, which provides effective support for students in difficult classes, and at the same time accelerates the learning of students who work as tutors," Friday said. "It is a two-for-one model; freshman and sophomore students get the help they need, while advanced student tutors experience higher-level learning by helping their peers to learn what they have learned."

The move will also provide more campus jobs to students, she said.

Papadopoulous said it's been difficult for students to get the tutoring they need, however.

It started in 2010 when university officials reduced the number of hours professional tutors were allowed to work. At that time, they could work up to 35 hours per week.

In addition, professional tutors are hired on a yearly basis. Starting this semester, university officials gave precedence to student tutors, giving them the first pick of open spots, Papadopoulos said.

Since these changes have been put into place, there have been less class sections available for students to be tutored in.

In addition, university officials did away with tutoring for upper level 300 and 400 courses in 2010, Papadopoulos said.

"By the time students reach advanced classes, their competency is high enough that they usually do not require tutoring. However, there are always some students in upper level courses that do require assistance," Friday said.

Papadopoulos called the program changes deceiving.

"It's being redesigned to not offer the same services, but still look like it's a shining program," he said.

To date, ESU and Cheyney are the only state-run schools still using professional tutors, Friday said.